


The Christmas Fic Countdown

by scribaversutus



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Hanukkah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 16,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2706518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribaversutus/pseuds/scribaversutus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A countdown to Christmas in fics, contrived by spectralarchers on tumblr.  This work focuses on Felicity, which is interesting because she's Jewish.  However, she still believes in the spirit of Christmas and is very into celebrating it in classic Felicity style: aka a few missions, a few crazy ideas, a few disasters, and a lot of fun!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. December 1st: A Santa Hat

**Author's Note:**

> My very first fic on ao3!  
> Comments and feedback welcomed, even encouraged. I'm just starting out in writing, so don't hold back. I need the practice and the critique!

Felicity happily hummed along to the Pandora Hanukkah station as she moved around the Arrowcave, hanging red, blue, and green streamers from everything she could reach. She had Christmanukkahified most of the cave already: candy canes were dangling from the stair railings, the cave was filled with the smell of the cookies in the easy bake oven, and the menorah was at a place of honor on Oliver’s arrow-crafting workbench. She had even managed to drag the fake tree down the stairs and set it up by the costume case, only having to look at the instructions twice (she was _very_ proud of that) before it was assembled enough to hang ornaments and dreidels from. Sure, a couple branches were kinda dangling from the trunk and the top might be sitting at an odd angle… but it was nothing Diggle couldn’t fix, she thought cheerily.  
  
Tying off the last piece of streamer, Felicity took a step back and surveyed her work contentedly. Not bad for a blonde, socially awkward Jew, she thought, and then jumped at the strangled sound suddenly coming from behind her. Spinning around so fast that she lost her balance and had to catch herself on the closest table, Felicity registered only that the man before her was Oliver Queen and not some intruder before she closed her eyes in relief and took a few deep, calming breaths.  
  
“Oliver, you scared the crap out of me!” she chastised. Waiting for the usual apology, Felicity opened her eyes when it still had not come in a reasonable amount of time. Frowning, her discontent turned to concern when Oliver’s shellshocked expression finally registered with her. Following his disbelieving gaze, Felicity’s own eyes landed on the red-and-green wrapped salmon ladder.  
  
“ _WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE._ ” The whisper barely made it past Oliver’s lips before it died in the holiday-scented air.  
  
“Oh, you know,” Felicity laughed nervously. “I thought it would feel better for us… I mean, the cave would be more comfortable for you… _Oi, gevald…_ I just thought we could all use some extra holiday cheer this year.” Her subsequent deep sigh was interrupted by Diggle, bounding down the stairs and coming to an abrupt halt at the bottom.  
  
“Hey, guys, Lyla wants to know…” His voice trailed off as wide eyes took in the new and improved Arrowcave. “Wow. Someone’s been busy.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I’ve had enough doom and gloom for one year,” Felicity grumbled.  
  
“No, I like it,” Diggle responded as he moved to rescue the top of the Christmas tree. “The salmon ladder may have been a bit much for Oliver to handle, though.”  
  
“Yeah, I noticed” Felicity chuckled as she poked the still-frozen hero. Finally shaken from his stupor, Oliver slowly shook his head at her just as the easy bake oven timer rang.  
  
“Oh, the cookies are ready!” Felicity dashed to remove them from the oven, almost tripping again in her excitement.  
  
“Is that… an easy bake oven? In my top-secret base?” Oliver’s voice was incredulous, the expression on his face warning of an imminent slip back to statue-Oliver.  
  
“Yup. Chocolate chip cookies: a vigilante’s best friend,” Felicity deadpanned as she shoved a cookie at Oliver’s mouth.  
  
Reaching for the tray, Diggle grabbed two. “Hey, you’re Jewish. So why the Christmas decorations?”  
  
“I believe in the spirit of Christmas, just not the religion bit. And who doesn’t like presents?” Felicity answered. “Also, I present exhibits A and B.” She gestured to the menorah and the dreidels on the tree with an elaborate flourish.  
  
“Got it. But you know, I think you’re still missing one thing,” Diggle said offhandedly as he sidled to the computers.  
  
“Oh yeah? And what would that be, exactly?”  
  
“A Santa hat.”  
  
Felicity shrieked (she couldn’t help it!) as she felt something settle on her head. Spinning around and losing her balance for the umpteenth time that night, her outstretched hands landed on something firm... and warm. Apprehensively looking up, her eyes met a grinning Oliver’s as he wrapped an arm around her to steady her.  
  
“And some mistletoe.” Oliver grinned mischievously as his other hand rose to dangle the aforementioned plant above their heads.  
  
Felicity smacked his very solid chest, a grin slowly spreading across her face as she turned away and dropped her head, remembering the Santa hat as it flopped into her face as if to help her to hide the blush on her cheeks.  
  
“You know what? I _hate_ you guys.” Felicity declared. But she couldn’t keep the affection out of her voice as her two favorite men laughed and reached for their own Santa hats – and more cookies, of course.


	2. December 2nd: Holiday Card Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity was already frustrated with her hugely long Holiday card list. Then her boss burst into her office and made it 10 times worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit choppy for my liking, as I didn't have time to write it all in one piece. Hopefully it still gets the point across. Comments and critiques welcome!

Groaning so loudly that the floors above and below her probably heard it, Felicity let her head fall to the desk with a thunk. Of course, her boss had to pick that very moment to walk in. He seemed to have a knack for picking the worst possible moments to stop by.

“Uhh… I can come back later, if you want,” he said slowly, his entire demeanor reading as “caution”.

“No, it’s fine,” Felicity said, rubbing her eyes before replacing her glasses. “I was just looking at my holiday card list in a spare moment. What’s up?”

“Actually, my thing has to do with the holidays too. I need you to design the invitation for the annual company Christmas party.”

Felicity stared at him in disbelief.

“You want me to do what now? Don’t we have people for that, as in someone who is more qualified than me?”

“Felicity, there is no one more qualified than you for this job,” Ray said, dazzling her with his characteristically brilliant smile. Felicity felt her heart skip a beat in response, as loath as she was to admit it. Good lord, how did he do that?

Shifting her gaze to anywhere but on him, Felicity took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Hacking I can do. Managing the computer network I can do. Invitation design? That is not on my resume.”

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun! New experiences and all that. Besides, I know you. You’ll do great; you always do.”

Before Felicity could protest any more, he had ducked out and the elevator doors were closing behind him. Felicity stared angrily at the shut doors, muttering her frustrations to herself and she contemplated her next move. She could always call on one of the company’s promotional artists to do it, she thought, but a glance back at her card list reminded her that she didn’t have any real work to do right now anyways. And really, the rational part of her brain reasoned, it might be nice to learn some digital design techniques. Giving in with a last angry mutter and a roll of her eyes, Felicity cracked her knuckles and threw herself into research. If she was going to do this at all, she would be damn sure that it was done well.

Two hours later, a much happier Felicity sat back and surveyed the completed invitation. A pale blue color with white snowflakes gracing the edges, it had just the right balance of seriousness and winter cheer to be both professional and inviting. All the written details matched the current customs perfectly, and Felicity had added her own bit of programming to make it automatically customize each invitation based on the list of guests she presumed Ray was making. Once she linked the list with the invitation template, it would auto-address the envelopes too and match them with the invitations as they printed, saving some poor sap the effort. Speaking of effort…

Felicity looked back to her card list with a sigh. She had nothing else to do, so it was time to get the list done. Well, she really had it done already, but there were too many names on it for her to send a card to everyone. There were her mom, Oliver, Roy, Diggle, Thea, the Lances, her neighbors, that nice shopkeeper who treated her like his daughter, and the rabbi she went to for advice, not to mention all of her old friends and acquaintances from college and before. She needed to cut some names, but couldn’t really imagine leaving anyone off her list this year. Even Ray had a place on it, a minor miracle considering how much as he drove her crazy. Still, it was way too much work for her to do on top of her actual work and her night “job”. She would never be able to get through all the names, let alone the envelopes…

The envelopes. The corners of Felicity’s mouth began to curl into a smile as inspiration struck her. She had just finished a program that would automatically fill in names and address envelopes. What was stopping her from using it for her holiday cards too? All she needed to do was pull the necessary information…

Felicity’s fingers flew as the digital list began to take shape. Soon, she had everyone’s names and addresses neatly compiled. After a few adjustments to the template, Felicity queued up the print job and hit enter with a deep sense of satisfaction. Gathering her things, she left the office for the day and headed home to sign each card with care as she sipped hot chocolate, wondering what other frustrations might turn out to be blessings in disguise.


	3. December 3rd: The Wish List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity ignores subtlety and gets down to the business at hand: finding out what everyone wants for Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has tons of sass today. Oops.  
> I'm awarding myself bonus points for including references from Arrow 3x08 and The Flash 3x07. Bonus points to you if you can find them!

“Oliver, if you cut through the mall streets you can catch them around the bend. Just go straight through it; they’re holding course.” Felicity’s fingers flew as she traced the stolen car’s route through the city.

“Copy. Going past the mall now. Wow, that is a really big snowman.”

“I know, right? They say it’s the same one every year, but I swear it gets bigger each year I see it. Oh, they’re right in front of you!”

“I see them. Roy, cut them off. Bow ready; shoot the tires out if they don’t stop.”

Felicity pulled up the feed from the closest street camera and watched anxiously as the scene played out, only releasing her breath once Oliver and Roy had kicked the thieves’ butts. (Luckily, it didn’t take long. Her lungs weren’t very big.) Hearing Diggle’s familiar footsteps on the stairs, she made sure the SCPD was en route before she spun around in the chair to face the not-so-masked hero.

“Hey! What does Lyla want for Christmukkuh?” Felicity wasted no time on small talk; she only had 21 days to buy gifts for the whole extended team, and she wanted each gift to be perfect.

Diggle leaned against the arrow workbench, brow wrinkled as he considered her question. “You know, a couple days ago she mentioned needing a spa set and a new combat knife. Maybe you could get one and Oliver could get the other since I already have my presents for her.”

Felicity nodded, grateful for the suggestion. “Spa set. I can do that.”

Diggle waited a moment, then spoke when it was obvious that Felicity wasn’t going to. “Hey, aren’t you going to ask me what I want?”

“Nope,” Felicity replied, ending the word with a popping sound and a smug expression. “I already know what I’m getting you. And no, you don’t get any hints! Wait to open it like a normal person.”

Diggle groaned. “I am normal! No one wants to wait for presents. That’s the whole point of instant gratification; no waiting.”

Felicity sassily spun back to her computers, smugness giving way to amusement. “Too bad so sad, Johnny boy. My word is final. No backtalk in the Arrowcave!”

“For the last time, we are _not_ calling it that!” Oliver’s voice crackled on the comms, the hum of his motorcycle just audible in the background.

Ignoring his command, Felicity grabbed the notebook she was writing her gift list in. “Perfect timing, o captain my captain. What do you want for Christmukkah?”

A silent moment passed before Oliver answered, his voice thoughtful. “Let me get back to you on that; I haven’t really thought about it. Ask again tomorrow?”

“You know I will,” she replied. “I’m a hawker, after all. I hawk you until I get what I want. Roy, how about you?”

Roy answered almost immediately, sure of his choice. “A new sweatshirt would be great. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find plain red zip-ups with a decent hood.”

“Copy that. One red sweatshirt and a postponement for Starling’s hooded heroes.” She scribbled the additions down, looking over her nearly-complete list. A baby gym for little Sara, a plane ticket for her mom to visit anytime in the next year, a mug for Barry, a sweatshirt for Roy, a spa set for Lyla, and her personal favorite – a costume for Diggle, given jointly with Oliver and Roy. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he opened it – this was going to be a great Christmas.


	4. December 4th: Carols All The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity rocks out in the Arrowcave and then goes for latkes and more singing.
> 
> Edit: This chapter is an example of all the reasons I should never continue writing when I'm falling asleep between sentences and waking up to find random words like "fast food" inserted into the dialogue. Lesson learned: I'd rather post something late than not remember what I wrote and be afraid it sucks. Remember that if I don't get things posted on time in the future, please!

_“WHO SPIKED THE EGGNOG!”_ Felicity joyfully yelled at the top of her lungs. December meant she could finally spend her days listening to her favorite holiday-themed music without judgment, and she was taking full advantage. Straight No Chaser was always at the top of her list; how could anyone not love the pep and humor in their Christmas songs? Plus, she had the Arrowcave to herself for a while and screaming lyrics while dancing along without a care in the world was exhilarating, to say the least.

_“Tell me who, who spiked the eggnog?_  
I know the culprit is here.  
Who, who's been hiding the hooch?  
At the Christmas party this year.  
(We love the eggnog!)” 

The locked door was a big factor in all this, Felicity knew; she felt safer and more secure here than nearly anywhere else, and felt more comfortable letting her control slip here than she would have elsewhere. So naturally, she queued up more music and let the good times roll.

_“Christmas, Christmas time is here, and Christmas songs you love to hear_  
Thoughts of joy and hope and cheer, but mostly shopping, shopping, shopping  
Christmas. Christmas time is here, the sleigh bells and red nosed deer  
Songs and songs we love to hear all played a thousand times each year.” 

Felicity twirled lightheartedly around the salmon ladder as the Christmas Can Can began to play, giggling at the best lines and stopping in her tracks to belt out her favorite part:

_“Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I made it out of clay.  
You realize that Christmas ain't the only holiday!”_

At the end of the song, Felicity paused the playlist to catch her breath and check the police scanners – all clear of Arrow-level baddies. Glancing at the clock, Felicity sucked in a breath at the time and grabbed her coat and keys, sprinting up the stairs. The local synagogue was hosting a Hanukkah caroling party in 15 minutes. She had to get going!

As much as she liked the modern songs, Felicity was looking forward to hearing some good traditional ones. They were a part of her culture, and besides that, this was a pitch-in dinner. For Felicity, this meant one thing and one thing only: latkes. They were by far her favorite holiday dish, but for some reason she could never make them taste quite right. Instead, she ate as many as she could during the brief time in which the ladies of the synagogue brought them to the community events.

Making it just in time for the first song, Felicity enthusiastically joined the small crowd. It was one she knew well, so she absentmindedly wondered if she could convince any of the guys to sing with her this year before snorting at the thought. It had been hard enough to convince Oliver to allow the decorations to stay up until December 26th; she thought it safe to say that any mention of caroling would be met with sullen glares and not much else. Oh well, she thought. She would just have to have enough holiday spirit for all of them.

And so she did, driving the guys crazy for the next 20 days with every Christmas and Hanukkah song she could find.


	5. December 5th: The Sweater Debacle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an itchy sweater drives Felicity crazy until Diggle swoops in with two surprising solutions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, guys! I was just way too tired to finish this Friday and way too busy to finish it yesterday. I'm catching up, though, the next two chapters will be up tonight (in case anyone actually wants to know). I hope you're all getting into the holiday spirit!

Felicity groaned in irritation and agony, futilely reaching around her back in an attempt to scratch that one spot, the one in between her shoulder blades that was currently extremely itchy. Kicking out one leg as she tried to contort herself more, she was surprised when a hand that wasn’t hers landed on her shoulder. Spinning around, she found Diggle before her with something in his hand, something that he was holding out to her.

“It looked like you might need this,” Diggle said as she took the object from him. “It’s long enough to work as a backscratcher.”

“Diggle,” Felicity replied with confusion and concern evident in her voice as she stared at the green arrow in her hand. “I think you need to double check your definition of ‘scratch’.”

Diggle chuckled. “Use the fletching, not the head. It may be a bit unorthodox, but it’ll probably do the trick.”

Felicity’s eyes widened in understanding, her arm swinging the arrow over her shoulder before Diggle could finish his sentence. Finally gaining some relief, she dropped her head forward and moaned blissfully. “Diggle, you are a genius.”

Smiling, her savior replied. “Nah, that’s your title around here. But I gotta ask, why are you so itchy?”

“It’s this damn sweater,” Felicity groaned in frustration. “It’s one of the few presents my mom has gotten me that I actually like and the pattern is really cute so I try to wear it a couple times each winter, but it is literally the itchiest thing I own. Hand-knit wool can be very problematic.”

“Have you tried wearing a shirt underneath it?” Diggle asked, studying the Star of David/dreidel/angel design on the front.

Felicity drew her free hand back and pointed at Diggle with force. “Yes! And it worked, too, but would you believe I was running late today and forgot the t-shirt?”

Diggle shook his head, amused. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

Felicity sighed. “The price we pay for fashion. And family.”

Walking over to the drawers, Diggle pulled a spare shirt out and tossed it to Felicity. “Here, try this. You’ll be swimming in it, but it’s better than scratching your back with an arrow.”

Catching the shirt by reflex (a small miracle, really), Felicity stared at it. “But… This is Oliver’s.”

“Yeah, he won’t mind.” Diggle looked back at Felicity and noted her apparent reluctance to put it on. “Is that a problem?”

“Nope. This is fine! I’ve always wondered how big Oliver’s torso is, compared to mine anyways and I like how he smells – I mean, his detergent doesn’t bother me… I have very sensitive skin, you know!” Talking too fast, Felicity stumbled slightly over her words and gave up, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as she walked towards the bathroom to put the shirt on. “Thanks for the shirt, Diggle. Don’t tell Oliver about any of this, or I’ll… Well, you can imagine the rest. Just don’t tell him.”

Diggle nodded at Felicity’s disappearing back. “I won’t.”

In the bathroom, Felicity hesitated for a moment before pressing the shirt to her nose, breathing in its scent before pulling it on under her sweater with a little sigh and a contented smile.


	6. December 6th: Christmas Cake Surprise (not really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has never been good at baking, but add a distraction into the mix and things get messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned that I really enjoy getting to explore Felicity outside of her job and her other job?

Lost in thoughts of a sometimes-shirtless man who distracted her from her work, Felicity was yanked back to reality by the loud alarm of the smoke detector and a burning smell coming from her oven.

“Shit!” Felicity leapt into action, nearly falling as she bounced off the ottoman, tripped on a pair of shoes lying in the middle of the floor, and collided with a chair. (Ow; that last one was going to bruise.) Reaching the oven, she yanked the door open and instantly regretted it as she was enveloped by a cloud of black smoke. Coughing and moving as fast as she could, Felicity grabbed the hot pads and pulled the cake she’d forgotten out of the oven, throwing the black and very crispy creation directly into the sink and turning the water on to try and quell the smoke still rising from it.

“Shit shit shit shit shit,” Felicity chanted steadily as she ran around the apartment, opening every window and grabbing a chair on her way to the smoke detector. Once there, she jumped onto the chair and pushed the little red button until the smoke detector shut up. Climbing down more slowly, Felicity returned to the kitchen to survey the damage. Smoke was still seeping from the oven vent; she turned it off and opened the oven door, cookie sheet at the ready to fan the smoke towards the windows.

This was a routine with which Felicity was sadly familiar; the longest she’d ever made it without horribly burning something was one month, nine days and two hours, give or take 30 minutes. (She’d hung one of those “__ days since an accident” signs in her kitchen after the fifth incident.) This was the third year in a row she’d burned a Christmas cake, so named for the green and red sprinkles throughout the batter that turned the cake into holiday colors after it cooked. They were her favorite holiday dessert to make, mostly because she could actually make them, but even cakes weren’t safe from Felicity’s cooking prowess.

Sighing, Felicity cleaned the soot off her glasses and moved towards the pantry to get another box of cake mix. If burning every type of food imaginable had taught her anything, it was to always buy a backup. Mixing up the batter, Felicity drifted back to her previous train of thought and nearly sprayed batter across the kitchen as a result. Stopping the mixer and putting it down, Felicity sighed. This was getting ridiculous. She needed some backup herself.

Picking up her phone, Felicity made the call.

“Hey, Lyla! No, everything’s fine, I’m just failing at baking and I was hoping you could come over and give me a hand… No, you can bring Sara, absolutely! That’s even better, actually, she’ll keep me and my big silly head occupied while the cake cooks… 15 minutes? Great. I’ll see you then!”

Ending the call and starting the clean-up, Felicity smiled for the first time since the smoke detector had gone off. Friends like Lyla were a godsend; she didn’t know what she would do without them. “Then I better not kill them with cold,” Felicity murmured as she shivered suddenly and started to close the windows, listening closely for a knock at the door.


	7. December 7th: Decorating the Apartment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever wondered what it would be like to string up the Christmas streamers with a superhero archer? When Roy comes over, Felicity finds out! (It's definitely not what she was expecting.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask, I do not ship Roy and Felicity so there will be NONE of that in this chapter or any other (despite the slightly suggestive summary: oops.) (If that's what you were looking for, I apologize but you won't find it here. Ever.)
> 
> And I just realized that this is a day late again, so I'm going to stay up and catch up. I'll get there, sorry for the delays!

“Don’t tense up, it’ll throw your aim off.” Roy instructed. “Now just breathe out and release, like I showed you.”

Felicity loosed the arrow and squealed as it hit its mark, pushing the thumbtack on its point into the corner of the wall as the streamer tied to its shaft bounced and spun, now stretched festively across the room.

“Did you see that?” Felicity turned to Roy, her joy barely contained. “I hit it!”

“Yeah, you did!” Roy encouraged her as a broad smile spread across his face. “Think you can do it six more times?”

Felicity grinned at him impishly, already nocking another arrow on the bowstring.

“Let’s find out.”

* * *

When Felicity had asked Roy to help her put up the decorations in her apartment, this was not what she had in mind. And when Roy had shown up at her door with a bow and quiver, she had said no – multiple times. But Roy had eventually convinced her, explaining that the bow had a low draw weight so that it would be easy for her to shoot and wouldn’t put any holes in the walls, and that the arrows were modified to hold thumbtacks instead of arrowheads.

“It’ll be fun!” he said, demonstrating the ease with which the bowstring could be pulled back.

Marching up to him, Felicity had snatched the bow from his hands and muttered, “Fine. But if anything gets damaged, you’re fixing it.”

“Done,” Roy had said, backing up with his hands up. “Now here’s what you do…”

* * *

Ten minutes later Felicity was pinning streamers to her walls with a bow and arrow, and she had to admit that it was fun; a lot better than standing on a chair, anyway! Maybe she should pick up a bow more often, she thought as she took aim at the next corner. She’d been doing pretty well so far, even given that she was using a bow a child could draw back, and that her targets had been no more than six feet away from her. Still, Roy seemed to think she was doing alright. Maybe she could even convince Oliver to give her a lesson…

Felicity’s hands jerked at the thought, and the arrow went wide. Very wide. Leaving a long scratch, it glanced haphazardly off the window and broke through a flower pot before coming to a rest in the side of the couch.

Felicity peeked nervously up at Roy from the floor, where she had ended up after the arrow had gone crazy and he’d tackled her in case it came back at them (not likely, but possible). Jumping to his feet, Roy helped her up, concern plastered all over his face.

“Are you alright?”

Brushing herself off, Felicity tried to avoid his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good.” Soft and worried an instant before, Roy’s face and voice now hardened in a snap. “What were you thinking?! Even with a lighter draw, that bow could do some serious damage to flesh and blood. What on earth could have distracted you so much that you missed by that much?”

Felicity kept her head down, occupying herself with the broken pot in the hopes that Roy would get the message and let it slide. Unfortunately, the young archer had sharp eyes and a determined streak. Noticing the slight blush that Felicity was trying unsuccessfully to hide, Roy began to put the pieces together, his eyes widening.

“You weren’t thinking about hi…”

Felicity cut him off abruptly. “No! No, I was NOT thinking about anyone, no one at all. So you can just drop it now, please and thanks.”

Shaking his head, Roy planted his hands on his hips and sighed. “Geez, Felicity, I didn’t know you had it that bad for him. You really just need to kick his ass and make him see reason already.”

“He made his choice,” Felicity replied in a whisper, voice shaking a bit. She looked up and met Roy’s eyes to see her pain mirrored in them. Then Roy turned abruptly, muttering under his breath. (Felicity thought he might have been saying something about kicking Oliver’s ass himself, but surely that was pure speculation on her part. Right?)

Stalking over to the table, Roy pulled out a chair and brought it back with him, positioning it under the corner Felicity had missed.

“Here, let’s get this done,” he said, his voice cheerful again, if a bit forced as he pulled his emotions into check. “It won’t be Christmukkuh if the decorations aren’t up.”

Sniffing a bit and swiping at her eyes just once, Felicity picked up the streamer and passed it up to him, filling her head with happy thoughts and capping it off with the thought of the great friends she had on Team Arrow.

“Hey, Roy? Thanks.”

He glanced down, a brotherly smile pulling up one side of his face. “Anytime, Felicity. Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I tagged this work as (kinda) Olicity, and I know I've teased you a little bit here and there, but looking ahead at the prompts - thanks again to skyfallat221b - there's a golden opportunity for the 12th of December and I intend to seize it. No smut, cause that's way outside my comfort zone, but some Olicity all the same. I have promised it, and it shall be delivered!
> 
> Also, sorry for the angst in this chapter. I didn't even know there would be angst until I had written it, and I wanted to go back and change it, but creative side of my personality put its foot down and refused to think of anything else. So angst it is!


	8. December 8th: Writing the Cards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity sits down to write her Hanukkah/Holiday cards and starts thinking about Oliver instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, trouble in paradise isn't fun for anyone. But in the (slightly modified) words of the peasant in Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
> 
> It got better.
> 
> Give it a chance; I think you'll like it. I do!
> 
> Plus, now I'm caught up so I can start posting every day again.
> 
> Also, this is by far the longest chapter to date. I'm very proud of it.
> 
> If you can, please leave comments!
> 
> Thanks for stopping by!

Plopping onto the couch with a sigh, Felicity pulled a lap desk onto her lap and dropped the Hanukkah/Holiday cards onto it, organizing stamps, address labels, envelopes, extra pens, and a mug of hot chocolate on the empty cushion beside her. She’d meant to finish them six days ago right after they’d been printed, but Oliver had called her in on a case. One case had led to another, of course, not to mention the cake and the apartment decorations, and long story short she had forgotten about the cards until just now. Thankfully, they were almost ready to go. If she didn’t insist on writing a short personal note in each one they’d be done already, but she had learned a long time ago that if you wanted to stay friends with someone, you kept in touch with them.

A couple years ago, Felicity had thought of another reason to always be specific with her cards; when she considered each person in enough depth to write them a note, she also found things to be grateful for. A conversation here, a letter there, a hello hug the last time they’d gotten coffee together. No matter how small the detail, Felicity wrote it in a little notebook that she kept by her bed. Whenever she was sad or upset about something in the following year, Felicity would open the notebook and read what she had written about one of her friends before she got in bed. As she worked her way down the list, she would remind herself that each little moment was something to be thankful for, a good memory that no one could take away from her. It helped her sleep a little better at night. 

With this in mind and a playlist of her favorite holiday songs on in the background, Felicity picked up a card and practically froze; Oliver’s card was lying open on the desk.

Felicity really did enjoy Oliver’s company and loved being a part of his team, but the last few months had been rough. He hadn’t been able to look at her, to look at her and really see her, since he’d told her that he couldn’t be with her. Nor had she been able to think of him in the same way as before. He was still the man she loved, but now he was also the man who had broken her heart and she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that. She knew she was probably supposed to move on, but that had never really felt like an option to her, especially when she still saw him nearly every day and he still looked at her like a blind man who had just seen the sun for the first time – and had been burned by it.

His decision really hadn’t had anything to do with her, Felicity knew that, but it still hurt. After two years of looking at him, looking after him, two years of longing and waiting and _hoping_ …

After two years, he had given her the moon and then yanked it away before she had even grasped what it was that she had.

Felicity’s breath hitched in her throat, but she had cried enough already because of Oliver Queen. _Good memories,_ some small part of her whispered. _Good memories._

Taking a deep breath and refocusing, Felicity thought back to the first time she crossed paths with Oliver. Picking up a pen and the notebook, she wrote “Oliver” across the top in large letters and underlined it, writing _red pen_ on the first line as she smiled slightly at the memory of playboy billionaire Oliver Queen trying to convince her that the bullets holes in the laptop he’d just handed her were a result of a spilled latte. She hadn’t believed him, of course, but for some reason she’d done what he asked anyways, breaking a very high level encryption and searching through hundreds of files to tell him what he wanted to know. Recalling that pretty much the same thing had happened when Oliver came to her the second and third times, she added _Royal Flush bank robbers_ and _black arrow_ to her list before she realized that it was becoming a very strange list.

“I better skip a couple years, then,” she muttered, fast-forwarding to Deathstroke’s attempted destruction of the city and the moment she and Oliver had shared in his abandoned mansion. Sure, it had been a ploy to pump the crazed superhuman full of cure and ultimately defeat him, but Oliver’s words, whispered in the dark foyer for only her ears and those of the camera to hear, were even now echoing in her head.

_“I love you.”_

She added those three words to the list, the memories flowing easily now.

_Joining the team for realsies._

_“You can trust me.”_

_The underground casino. “It feels really good having you inside me. And by you, I mean your voice. And by me, I mean my ear.” (Did I really say that??)_

_Oliver getting me out of the underground casino._

_“I’ll come back. I promise.”_

_The mine on the island._

_The painkillers after I got shot._

_“I rely on you. You’re my partner.”_

_The fern._

_“Felicity, would you go out to dinner with me?”_

_“Do you like Italian?”_

_“Shirtless. All the time.” (Yep, I said that too.)_

Giggling now at all the ridiculous things she’d said (and all the sweet things he’d said), Felicity glanced down the list and frowned slightly. It was missing one last moment…

_“How do I look?”_

Smiling slightly, Felicity answered him under her breath.

“Like a hero.”

And a hero he was, she remembered. He had saved the lives of countless people, saved the entire city twice now. He had saved her, too.

And she would save him.

She didn’t know when or how, but she would convince him that it was ok to love. That he didn’t need to isolate himself, shunning any potential connection that came his way. She was strong, stronger than she looked, and he knew that. She just had to get him to remember it.

Renewed hope burning bright in her chest, Felicity switched her notebook out for Oliver's Holiday card and began to write.


	9. December 9th: Meeting Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this the real life? Or just a terrifying vision of a man dressed in red coming out of a fireplace? Aka Felicity probably wonders if visiting Thea ever again is a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok guys I am SO SO sorry, I learned this week that writing fic and studying for finals do not mix. At all. And so I'm super behind again. Sorry. I will catch up in the next couple days - again - and this time I can promise there will be no more finals to distract me!

“I’m getting some ice cream,” Thea said as she jumped fluidly off the couch. “You want some?”

“Sure,” Felicity replied, leaning back and wiggling into the ridiculously comfortable cushions. “Whatever you have is fine.”

Thea nodded as she rounded the corner into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder to let Felicity know that she was going to the bathroom while she was up. That wasn’t surprising; the two of them had been catching up all evening, spending a couple hours at dinner before coming back to Thea’s loft. There they’d immediately curled up on the sofa by the fireplace, letting the flickering flames drive away any residual chills they’d picked up while walking in the downright cold December weather. Felicity glanced at the clock; she’d been here nearly three hours. Through the window she could tell that it was pitch black outside, the cloud cover too thick for the moonlight to pierce even though there had been a full moon a couple days ago. She’d have to call a cab to drive her home, Oliver would kill her if she tried to walk there alone in the dark.

Yawning, Felicity relaxed and let her body sink further into the couch. She’d been up late the last couple nights in the Arrow Cave, and she was starting to feel it. Thank goodness it was a Friday night; when she got home she could sleep for as long as she wanted. For once, there would be no overly cheerful bosses or brooding superheroes to wake her up early.

Just then, a clattering sound caught Felicity’s attention, making her head snap around as she looked for its source. She would have sworn that it had come from the fireplace, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary lying among the logs and the chimney had to have a cap on it anyways, to keep anything from getting in. But as she watched, particles of soot began to sprinkle down from the flue, getting larger as she heard the sound again – and it was definitely coming from the chimney! Her eyes widened in shock as the fireplace seemed to grow in height, a large round man ducking out into the room once the fireplace was sufficiently tall. Dressed in a red suit and tall black boots, the bearded man – Santa Claus? – walked over the Christmas tree and didn’t seem to notice Felicity. Taking advantage of this, Felicity started to scramble off the couch to run away but instead found that she was frozen in place, unable to do anything except move her head and maybe twitch her fingers a bit. Trying frantically to move something, anything else, her panicked movements drew the man’s attention to her for the first time.

Carefully observing her, he sighed and shook his head.

“Sandy, you missed one!” he called up the chimney.

“I did not!” a faint voice replied. “I used a paralyzing dose. She was already asleep, so I didn’t bother with anything more.”

“Well, she’s not asleep now!” the man yelled irately before turning to look at her kindly. “Now don’t you worry, Felicity, I’m not going to hurt you. Do you know who I am?”

Felicity, quickly losing her fear as the scene became more comical than threatening, nervously replied “You look like Santa Claus.”

“Ho ho ho,” he chuckled. “I just look like him?” He leaned just a bit closer, the twinkle in his eye becoming much more visible. “Let’s see. I came down the chimney, I just yelled at the Sandman, I’m wearing this,” he motioned to his outfit, “and I knew your name.” Smiling gently, he asked her, “Have you heard the expression ‘seeing is believing’?”

Felicity’s mouth dropped open. “But… why… you’re here in Starli… but this doesn’t make any sense! Christmas isn’t for another two weeks, and I barely celebrate it to begin with!”

Santa Clause chuckled again, his belly shaking jollily. “You go straight for the hard questions; I like that! Yes, I know you celebrate the spirit of Christmas and not the religion. Ever think that maybe the spirit is enough for me? But I’m not here for you…” he nodded toward the kitchen. “Why would I leave a gift for you under Thea Queen’s tree?”

Felicity considered his reasoning carefully, mentally smacking herself for not realizing that _of course_ , he would be in Thea’s apartment for Thea. The rest of it kinda made sense too, so she just nodded and waited for him to speak again. Belatedly she wondered if it was a bit strange that she was so willing to accept that he was actually Santa Claus but the thought slipped away quickly, replaced by a furrowed brow as she began to consider how he got around and if there was actually a sleigh and why he was here so long before Christmas and well, every question about Santa Clause she’d ever had.

“I know what you’re thinking, Felicity. I can answer a few questions, but then I have to go. More presents to deliver! There is a sleigh, and it uses a wormhole generator to travel long distances. Even I can’t stop time, so I start delivering a few weeks before Christmas and just hide the presents with this cloaking tech built into the wrapping paper. Yes, I’m slightly telepathic; how do you think I know what every kid wants?”

Felicity found her voice again. “Wow… just wow. A wormhole generator? Wow, I bet Ray would love to see those blueprints…” She narrowed her eyes at Santa, suddenly realizing that he could probably make that happen.

“I could, but I won’t; someone’s going to develop one on their own eventually. Where would the fun be in giving them all the answers?” the jolly man ho-ho-ho’d.

“But now I must be off.” He bent to gather his bag from the couch. “It has been a pleasure, Felicity. Sweet dreams!”

Before Felicity could react, the fireplace had swallowed him and he was gone, a voice calling out the familiar names of reindeer as it grew fainter. Felicity closed her eyes and listened closely, surprised to hear his voice growing stronger again and… changing? It was suddenly higher pitched, and saying her name??

Felicity jerked back to consciousness, Thea leaning over her with a bowl in each hand and calling her name to wake her up.

“You ok there?” Thea considered her with a concerned once-over. “You must be exhausted. Why don’t you eat this and then go home?”

Felicity blinked rapidly, trying to clear the cobwebs from her thoughts and the cotton from her mouth. “Um, yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Accepting the ice cream, she glanced to the Christmas tree and saw no presents there. Plus, Thea wasn’t acting like anything was out of the ordinary. Ok, so it was all just a dream. Good; now it would actually make sense!

Twenty minutes later, Felicity was at the door to her apartment. Digging around in her purse for her keys, Felicity’s hand instead landed on something small and rectangular. Pulling it and her keys out, she saw as she stepped inside that she held a box wrapped in a blue paper covered with dreidels and menorahs. She stared at it for a moment, wondering how it had ended up in her purse for several seconds before the obvious answer wormed its way back into her consciousness. Smiling brightly, Felicity put the present under the Christmukkuh tree to wait for the big morning. She’d find out then what it was; for now the idea that Santa Claus might be even the tiniest bit real was enough for her to go to bed content and eager to dream of the big days to come.


	10. December 10th: A Whirlwind of Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has a lot of shopping to do, and not nearly enough time to do it in. It's time to call in some super-sized help...

“Oh no, I have so much left to buy!” Felicity groaned as she checked another present off her list. When she had started her Christmas shopping she had thought she would be fine, but somehow she had forgotten to account for the size of the gifts she was buying. She’d been at the mall for just an hour and had already made two trips out to the car, and she was going to have to make a third trip soon.

“This is exhausting!” Felicity moaned as she picked up her many bags again. “It would be so much easier if I just had Oliver’s arms of steel or Barry’s superspeed or something.”

What she had just said took a moment to sink in, but the instant it did she was shuffling towards another bench, setting down all her bags, and whipping her phone to her face.

“Barry? It’s Felicity. Do you have some free time? I’m holiday shopping and could use some company – and some help.” Listening to the answer from the other end of the line, Felicity looked at the name of the nearest store. “I’m in the mall, in front of the GAP. Yeah, the one closest to my apartm…”

A sudden rush of wind cut her off, following a faint red streak which disappeared into service hallway with impossible speed. A few seconds later, Barry emerged from the hallway and walked up to Felicity, smiling widely. “Felicity!”

“Barry! Wow, are you getting faster?” Felicity said, embracing the speedster and discreetly smothering an ember on his shirttail.

“Oh hey, I didn’t even notice that. Thanks,” a slightly embarrassed Barry uttered. “And uh, yeah, after Blackout stole my powers they came back stronger than ever!”

He looked very proud of himself, and Felicity couldn’t help but smile in response to his lopsided grin. It was unique, and _so_ totally him.

Ducking away from her gaze, Barry spotted her packages. “Oh wow, are these all yours?”

Felicity nodded, clasping her hands in front of her and turning nervously so that her skirt wrapped around her legs some. “Yep. I guess you know now why I need help.”

Nodding slowly, Barry’s wide eyes took in the vast expanse of bags arrayed over the bench and the floor by it. “So… you want me to just get these out of the way for you?”

“Yes, that would be great! If it’s not too much of a bother, I mean, but I’d much prefer perusing the stores with you without dragging a bazillion bags behind us.”

Barry nodded slowly. “Yeah, no prob. Just give me your keys and tell me where you’re parked.”

He listened closely as she described the path he would have to take to reach her car, picking up a few bags and grabbing the keys in one hand and glancing around to make sure no one was watching before blurring away. Felicity watched in awe as the bags rapidly disappeared from in front of her, not even noticing the confusion of the shoppers around her as a very weird draft tangled their hair and set their bags swinging. Then all the bags were gone and Barry was in front of her again, one final blast of wind slamming into her as he came to a stop.

“Done!” he exclaimed gleefully, the joy of running still evident on his face. “How much shopping do you have left to do?”

Felicity showed him her list and he whistled.

“Then it looks like we should get going. Where do you want to start?”

The two set off down the corridor as Felicity answered him, laying out her plan for the next few hours.

“Well, I was thinking of hitting this one hardware store first, and then the toy store before we swing over to the candle shop...”


	11. December 11th: Friends or Practically Family?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has somehow ended up hosting the Christmas Eve party, and isn't quite sure whether she should invite only members of Team Arrow or some of her own friends as well. What's best for everyone, including her?

Off work early, Felicity swished through the door and hung her coat on its rack, depositing her purse on the table before jumping onto the couch with her address book in hand. Flipping to the Starling City section, she looked over the names and tried to decide who she was going to invite to her last day of Hanukkah/Christmas Eve celebration.

She hadn’t had this issue the last two years. She’d been working for Oliver Queen, which naturally meant a huge Christmas party on the eve of the day itself. The Queen party was famous for its custom of providing a huge tree decked in streamers and lights and ornaments galore, decorations covering every inch of molding, a wreath on every door, hors d’oeuvres and champagne on trays spinning throughout the mansion, and an open bar for Starling’s most elite to enjoy. Sighing, Felicity cast a critical eye over her own decorations. They were pitiful even before she compared them to the Queens’; the streamers were stuck to the walls with arrows, for Pete’s sake.

But the mansion wasn’t exactly available this year, so the team had had to brainstorm. Diggle’s place wasn’t an option, as it was chockfull of baby merchandise. Roy’s place was too small, and Thea had volunteered but then a bird (aka the Arrow; thank you, Oliver) had broken her window and she had understandably backed out. Still trying to deal with Sara’s death, Laurel wasn’t exactly feeling the holiday spirit this year, so the team had bypassed her completely, not wanting her to take on the responsibility of a party. And that had left them with Felicity.

She had agreed to host the party, because they all needed some cheering up and she wasn’t about to deny them the opportunity to do just that. But now that she was hosting it, she needed to decide if she was going to invite anyone outside the team - like the old coworkers she still stayed in touch with and her mother – or if she was going to designate it a Team Arrow exclusive event.

If she did that she’d miss her friends, of course. Christmas Eve had been her time to catch up with everyone for as long as she could remember: first with the kids of people who worked with her mom and also brought their kids to the casino Christmas extravaganzas, next with her friends from high school as they all gathered at one person’s house to share cider and desserts, and later on in and after college, when Christmas parties had become more of a time to share stories built up over the course of the year than they were actual parties. Felicity genuinely enjoyed these nights; with the new work schedule she kept (official and un-official) she had less time than ever before to socialize.

On the other hand, it would be nice if the heroes could relax for one evening without secrets, so that everyone there could let their guard down for once. Especially Oliver and Laurel, Felicity thought. They were dealing with it differently, Laurel’s immense grief and anger leaking out from behind a thin wall of self-control while Oliver put more and more effort into protecting his friends and family, simultaneously cutting himself off from them emotionally. To him, Sara’s death was more proof that he put everyone close to him in danger, and Felicity knew that belief hurt him more than she could ever guess.

Besides, the Queens’ parties had kept her away from her other friends for two years now, and she had managed it well enough then. Whether it was over coffee on a lunch break or a full-blown meal at the end of the day, she had managed to keep up with her friends. Two years wasn’t that long; if she had to, she could do it another year.

Felicity set her address book aside with a sense of finality. For once, the decision had practically been made for her. The team and its allies needed some time off, an evening to relax and be themselves without having to hide any secrets. Relief settled over her, confirming that she’d made the right decision, and she set down to planning the details. She wanted it to be a perfect night for all involved; there was no doubt in her mind that they all deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was interesting; I was about to post it and then ended up writing 200 more words. Which actually made it a lot better, so no complaints here!
> 
> I'm chipping away at about 2 chapters per day. So I should be caught up by the 16th? If anyone wants to know. Sorry, guys, this writing thing goes a lot slower than I thought it would when I'm involved in all of my own family's Christmas stuff.
> 
> If you want me to write faster, come join me on tumblr at clevervulpus and message me until I give in! :)


	12. December 12th: O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity drags Oliver to a Christmas tree farm because gosh darn it, feels.

“Oliver, let’s go.” Felicity ordered as she swung her purse over her shoulder and marched towards the Arrow Cave’s stairs.

Startled by her obviously annoyed tone, Oliver looked up from cleaning his bow. “Wha- where? Why? Right _now?_ ”

“If _I’m_ hosting the Christmas party, _you’re_ helping me pick out, cut down, and set up the tree.” She was halfway up the stairs already and showed no signs of stopping.

Oliver looked pleadingly at Diggle, who gave him an exaggerated shrug and motioned him towards the stairs.

“Go on. She’s not going to let you get out of this one, you may as well just get it done. Hey, maybe you’ll even have some fun.”

Betrayal evident in Oliver’s eyes, he shrugged his coat on and took the stairs two at a time in an attempt to catch up to Felicity. When he reached her side she started to talk, barely sparing him a glance as she explained her plan.

“We’re heading to a Christmas tree farm outside of Starling. It’s pay-per-foot, but they give you a discount if you cut down your own tree. That’s where you come in.” She turned and poked him in the arm – the first normal Felicity-like thing she’d done all afternoon – before catching herself and turning away, a stony expression settling back into place over her face.

Oliver stayed silent while they got in the car and started moving, Felicity begrudgingly letting him drive after he pointed out that SUV they were borrowing from Diggle was technically his. A minute ticked by, two, three. He could practically feel the waves of hostility coming off of Felicity. Finally, he could take no more.

“Felicity?”

The word drew her gaze, if only for a second.

“What’s going on?” He was genuinely concerned; Felicity hated him for that. It made everything so much harder for her.

“Oliver, trust me, you don’t want to know what’s going on.” Her response was terse, clipped, an obvious warning to Oliver that he should just drop it. But of course, he didn’t.

“Felicity.”

She snapped.

“You want to know what’s going on? Alright, fine.” She shot the words like bullets, wanting them to hit him the same way they hit her. “I’m tired of all of… this,” she said, gesturing to the two of them in a jerky motion. “Tired of all the tension between us. Of having to walk on eggshells around you. Of waiting for you to get over yourself and ask me out again. No, stop that. I’m talking,” she insisted, cutting short his attempt to speak. “I know you want to protect me, and that you think I’ll be in danger if I’m in a relationship with you. But I take out bad guys with the Arrow; I’m already in danger! Remember when the Count took me hostage to get to you, or when the Dollmaker was about to dollify me? We weren’t dating then! And I’ve been in danger from things completely unrelated to the Arrow, too. My evil ex _just_ kidnapped me for his own purposes a couple months ago, or have you forgotten about that already?” Chest heaving, Felicity stopped to catch her breath.

“Yes, associating with you puts me in danger. Yes, being in a relationship with you would probably put me in even danger. But my point, and what you don’t seem to get, is that it’s _my choice_. _I_ know the risks involved, and _I_ get to decide whether to accept those risks, not you. And Oliver? I accept them. You are worth the risk. To me, _you will always be worth the risk._ ” She stared at him fiercely, daring him to voice anything but agreement.

Speechless and completely taken aback, Oliver could do nothing but stare at her until she jumped in her seat and yelled something about the road, gripping her armrests tightly. He snapped his attention back to the road and swerved out of the other lane just in time to avoid hitting another car. His heart racing from both the near-collision and the impact of what Felicity had just said, Oliver didn’t have any idea what he should say in a situation like this, so he didn’t. He sat quietly, gathering his wits about him as best as he could, his hands gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white the only external indication of how stressed and torn and utterly _heartbroken_ he was right now as his emotions warred with his better judgment. The silence stretched out longer and longer. Oliver could tell that Felicity was becoming annoyed again, frustrated by his lack of an answer. He didn’t blame her; he knew he wasn’t exactly the most compromising individual right now. But he had just lost Sara and he couldn’t stand to lose anyone else. Not just yet. Someday, perhaps.

_Maybe even someday soon,_ his mind whispered. Oliver had to resist the urge to shake his head as he cleared the thought away and futilely tried to stifle the hope rising in his chest. Until a couple years ago he hadn’t thought hope was even a possibility for him anymore; now he remembered when it had come back to him and his heart gave a little jump. He had begun to hope again at the same time Felicity had entered his life. Now he was positive that wasn’t a coincidence.

The rest of the drive passed uneventfully, despite Oliver’s recurring certainty that Felicity was going to say something more at any moment. When they finally arrived at the tree farm, he was immensely relieved when she got straight to business instead of trying to talk some more. He could tell that she was still upset, though; even the farm’s attendant picked up on it and shot Oliver a wide-eyed look as Felicity grabbed one of the farm’s axes and shoved it at him. They walked along for a while, Felicity practically stomping between the rows as Oliver followed helplessly behind her, lost in his thoughts as he tried to figure out how he could ever justify a relationship with Felicity given the chance of harm to her, even if it was her choice. So absorbed was he that he didn’t notice the way her steps had begun to falter until he was about to run into her and had to pull himself to an immediate halt to avoid a collision. Concerned, he turned to face her and was taken aback to see a tear rolling down her cheek as her breath shuddered pre-sob. Unsure if he should move to comfort her, she made the decision before he could by taking a step forward and burying her head in his chest, mostly expecting him to push her away but desperately hoping that he wouldn’t because that really would break her. So what he did instead was really a shock to both of them.

His arm moving almost of its own volition, Oliver tugged at Felicity’s chin to turn her face up toward his, cupping it in his hands as he pulled her in for a long, deep kiss. Through it he tried to convey all of his feelings; how all he wanted was for her to be safe, how much her words in the car had affected him, how sorry he was for pushing her away – 

How much he loved her.

He could be wrong, but he thought she understood.

Finally pulling away, he gazed into Felicity’s eyes, still bright with tears. Then he pulled her close, resting his chin on her head and encircling her tight with his arms, vowing to never let her go again.

“You’re right, Felicity. About everything.”

He felt her sharp intake of breath as his words sank in and looked down to find Felicity’s bright blue eyes seeking out his green ones. Once they met, neither one looked away.

“I have been pushing you away, and that isn’t fair – to you or to me.”

Now it was his turn to control his breathing, struggling to voice what he had to say next.

“And… it’s your choice. So if you’re sure this is what you want,”

“It is,” she interrupted firmly.

He smiled at her determination and continued. “then I’ll do whatever I can to make it work.”

She stared up at him, joy spreading across her face and chasing away all remaining traces of sorrow. Oliver felt his face shift to match hers, feeling as if the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Impulsively, he leaned down for another kiss, their lips moving together with all of the passion he’d tried to ignore for the past three months. The moment seemed to last forever, but when Felicity pulled away he was sure it hadn’t been long enough and grumbled his discontent. Felicity huffed bemusedly, ducking her head happily as she pulled him further into the rows.

“C’mon, if we don’t get this tree soon we’ll be stuck out here after dark. Not that that’s a bad thing, especially now… now that I can say I love you,” she finished in a rush.

Oliver smiled affectionately at her Felicityness. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... what did you think? :D I had planned this to be Felicity watching Oliver chop down the tree but then it got long and they had to work out their differences and for some reason it was from Oliver's point of view... so I'm going to write my original idea for Christmas day as a holiday bonus.


	13. December 13: Deck the Halls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garlands, popcorn, and a boyfriend - oh my!

“Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. And when it’s dry and ready, the dreidel I shall play,” Felicity sang along to her music as she cut out a blue crepe paper string of the Hanukkah toys. She’d managed to find a pattern online that suited her fancy, the corners lining up so the dreidels looked like they were in the process of spinning.

“Just… one… more…” Felicity said with an intense concentration she usually had only while hacking. “…cut!” she finished triumphantly as the scrap paper fell away, leaving only the clear outline of a top. Dropping the scissors – which bounced off the sofa and nearly impaled her foot, of course – she grabbed both ends of the garland and pulled it out, admiring her work. Taking her usual ineptitude at anything even remotely crafty into consideration, it looked pretty good.

Standing up, she walked over to the table and spread her creation across it. There it joined several other garlands she’d made over the course of the day; a classic string of children holding hands, a similar one with teddy bears instead of children, and a third one of penguins because, well, because penguins were adorable. Especially wearing sweaters, although she disliked the conditions that led to most instances of penguins wearing sweaters. Oil spills were horrible, horrible things; if she was still in college she’d probably be using her hacking skills to expose the deep dark secrets of the companies behind them instead of working with a vigilante. Or would that make her the vigilante? Pursing her lips, Felicity considered the question for a few seconds before she shrugged her shoulders and carried on. Either way, she had the greatest job in the world.

The microwave dinged, pulling her back to the task at hand. Skipping over to it, she retrieved the bag of unseasoned popcorn – which had been _extremely_ hard to find, she might add – and took it back to the couch with her. Felicity leaned over and grabbed her sewing basket from the bottom compartment of her end table, pulling out a needle, a thimble, and a long length of green thread. Then she got to work threading the needle through the popcorn. Popcorn garlands were her favorite Christmas decorations of all time; that she set aside the time to make them each year was proof of her love for the fluffy white adornment.

Settling into a rhythm, Felicity was able to let her thoughts wander. Well, wander a bit; after all, she was holding a needle and her name was Felicity Smoak. Put those two facts together and blood was almost inevitable.

As if on cue, the needle slipped and pricked her finger.

“Owww!” Felicity complained as she snatched her hand up and out of harm’s way, shaking it a bit before sticking the injured finger in her mouth. She frowned at the needle, annoyed that she had only strung about 30 pieces of popcorn before sustaining her first injury. Its swift arrival did not bode well for her fingers. She needed more thimbles. Ideally, she’d have someone more suited to handle sharp pointy objects here, but her mom wasn’t visiting until the first day of Hanukkah on the 16th. Felicity’s brow wrinkled in thought. Did she have any other options?

Felicity ripped her hand away from her mouth and smacked her forehead almost immediately. Of course she had another option, she had a boyfriend! And not only was he an expert handler of sharp and pointy objects, but his days were incredibly free right now.

Picking up her phone, Felicity texted Oliver and received an almost immediate response. Of course he was free right now, he said, and of course he would come over and help her finish making the Christmas decorations. He even ended the message with the kiss emoji, making Felicity smile so widely that her face started to hurt.

Now that they were past all the angst, things were looking up for the two of them, and Felicity couldn’t have been happier about that. Everything felt brighter somehow, especially the Arrow Cave (where Oliver was now doing the shirtless salmon ladder more than ever, to Felicity’s great delight). Honestly, Felicity thought that all of Team Arrow was happier now; Oliver wasn’t pushing anyone away, she had Oliver, and Diggle and Roy shared smug glances every time Oliver came within a foot of her (which was often).

The two of them had been trying to push Oliver in this direction even before their first date, Felicity knew. They had stayed out of it directly, but when she and Oliver got back from the tree farm and Diggle had seen how they were interacting, he’d grabbed Roy and the two of them had pulled her aside, asking how she had managed it and congratulating her after she told them about how she had just lost it and thrown everything at him all at once. Drinks that night had been on them. Now the whole team was more relaxed and cheerful on a daily basis. Felicity loved it.

Right on time, there was a knock on the door. After carefully stowing the needle in a pincushion, Felicity hopped up off the couch and over to the door, opening it to Oliver’s smiling face and a single red rose, which he tenderly handed to her. Seemingly unable to tear his eyes from her face, or hers from his, they stood there for several seconds before Felicity remembered to breath.

She invited him in, characteristically stumbling over her words and her feet as she tried to move aside so he could get past. But for once she didn’t care about her blunders because now he was stumbling over his words too, his cute “I’m nervous but I love you” smile firmly in place on his face. It was her favorite, and she knew that his favorite smile of hers was making a similar appearance on her face. Tucking her hair firmly behind her ear, Felicity led the way to the sofa as she showed him what she was doing. They sat down together and quickly developed a system: Oliver threaded the popcorn while Felicity slid it down to the end of the string and handed him a new piece. They had most of the string done in just half an hour, talking and laughing the whole time.

Felicity, unable to stop smiling, felt each laugh resonate in her soul. She was happier now than she had been in a long time, maybe the happiest she’d been in her life. Yeah, things were pretty good now. It was going to be a good Christmukkuh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To avoid all further Olicity angst, I will be carrying on with the storyline that they're dating now. Ok? Ok.


	14. December 14th: You May As Well Trim The Tree While You're Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity's dream wasn't quite what she thought it was... but she and Oliver decorated the Christmas tree in her apartment so it's not too bad a day overall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: the beginning is trash. But I actually kinda liked it and didn't want to rewrite the whole beginning, so you get to read it anyways.

Felicity stirred, mumbling sleepily as the mid-morning sun shone through her window and onto her face. She’d had the weirdest dream last night, she thought as she slowly woke up. Something about Oliver coming home with her and then coming to bed with her and… and…

Images flashing through her head, Felicity could feel the blush spreading across her face already. It was only a dream, she reminded herself. Good thing, too; if it was real, Felicity would be mortified.

Rolling over to avoid the sun and pulling the blanket up over her head, she told herself that five more minutes wouldn’t matter. All she had to do today was set up and decorate the Christmas tree, and she’d finished all the decorations with Oliver yesterday. Despite knowing this, Felicity was only able to lie there for a minute before she realized that she was fully awake; any further hopes of sleep were futile. Groaning, she opened her eyes – and screamed as she came face to face with Oliver Queen.

Startled awake, Oliver was on his feet and in a defensive position in less than a second, a – was that a _knife?_ – clutched in his hand as his eyes swept over the room looking for a threat. Finding none, his attention turned to Felicity, who was hugging her knees to her chest and desperately trying to ignore the muscular man (who apparently slept shirtless) standing just a few feet from her.

“I thought it was a dream,” Felicity gasped. “But you’re real and here and… holding a knife!” Her mouth dropped open as she scrambled ungracefully off the bed to lace her hands in her hair and stare at him in disbelief.

“You’re holding a knife! Why are you holding a knife? Where did you even get a knife? Is that my knife? Tell me you didn’t take my knife!” Her voice became more incredulous with each question, rising until she was nearly hysterical. All of this was a _lot_ to take in, and she didn’t do well with surprises.

Felicity took several deep, calming breaths and pinched the bridge of her nose as Oliver guiltily tucked the knife behind his back. “I don’t do well with surprises, Oliver.”

“Good morning to you, too. Can I point out that waking up to you screaming was a surprise for me too?”

“No.” Felicity told him decisively. “You cannot. Waking up face to face with your ex-boss is waaaay worse.”

Oliver paused for a moment before asking her gently, “You do remember that we’re dating, right?”

Felicity pulled an outfit out of her dresser, pointedly not looking at him.

“Yes.”  
Catching the tone of her answer, Oliver mentally rechecked what she had just said.

“Hold on.” He was amused now, and becoming more so each second. “Did you actually forget that we’re dating?”

Felicity tossed the clothes onto the bed to put her hands on her hips and stare at him unremorsefully.

“Maybe. Just for a moment. In my defense, it took you a really, really long time to come around to us.”

He cocked his head, acknowledging her point. Felicity saw this and relaxed, grabbing her clothes and walking into the bathroom.

“Get out of those pjs and into some clothes. So long as you’re here, you can help me decorate the tree.”

When they met in the living room a few minutes later, Oliver had traded his flannel pajama pants for jeans and a gray sweater, the arms pushed up to his elbows. Felicity felt a twinge of relief; she found it much easier to focus when his torso was covered. Besides, he looked _good_ in those sweaters, especially when she could admire his forearms.

Handing him a breakfast sandwich, Felicity outlined what they were going to do with the tree. She’d already obtained everything they needed – tree stand, tree skirt, decorations, lights, and ornaments – so now she and Oliver just had to put it together.

“Alright, let’s get started!” Felicity said cheerfully. First on the to-do list was putting the tree in the stand, which ended up being a lot harder than she thought. Thank goodness Oliver was here; he patiently held the tree suspended in mid-air as she placed the trunk in the exact center of the stand and screwed it in. Then they tackled the lights, which took longer than they should have because Oliver kept wrapping the lights around her instead of the tree, insisting that he couldn’t tell the difference between the green branches and the green t-shirt she was wearing. (It was out of character for him, but so light-hearted and cute that Felicity egged him on, placing herself between the lights and the tree whenever she could.) The ornaments and garlands went on the tree quickly, Oliver’s fast reflexes saving a good number of ornaments from annihilation on the floor.

When it came time to put the tree topper up, Felicity grabbed a chair and was preparing to step up on it when Oliver grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Uhh, putting the tree topper in its rightful place?” she answered him.

“You’re going to fall,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“You don’t know that!” she returned indignantly.

He fixed her with a knowing look, smirking just a bit as she struggled to maintain her offended look.

“You’re going to fall, and I’ll have to catch you.”

Now it was her turn to smirk. “And what part of you catching me is a bad thing?”

He rolled his eyes but stayed silent, giving Felicity her second win of the day.

“Compromise?” she suggested, a peace offering for their playful impasse.

He stuck out his hand to shake hers, a silent agreement between them as she climbed onto the chair and he held her waist, steadying her as she went on her tip-toes to place the light-up Star of David on the tree. Fiddling with it until it was perfectly placed, Felicity pretended not to notice Oliver’s still slightly concerned eyes on her and then jumped off the chair just to spite him. But he caught her anyways, lowering her safely to the floor with a chuckle in his throat and a smile in his eyes. Laughing together, they looked at the completed tree with pride and moved, curling up on the couch together with mugs of hot chocolate while they watched holiday movies and let the world move on by them for one afternoon.


	15. December 15th: How does this wrapping thing work again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity wraps the presents.

Felicity sat on her living room floor, wrapping paper and boxes strewn around her as she wrapped a present that was far from her first this night – and very far from her last.

“Whoops,” she sighed as the tape doubled up on itself yet again. Crumpling it up and tossing it in an ever-growing pile, she tore a new piece off the roll and this time managed to place it right where it needed to go, anchoring the two ends of the paper together over the middle of the box she was wrapping right now. She was just about halfway through the presents, which was good. However, a glance at the clock told her that it had taken her nearly two hours to wrap those 14 presents. Felicity hung her head and groaned, but could only let herself get away with a small amount of complaining before she pulled her attention back to the task at hand, determined to wrap everything tonight – she was _not_ going to let this take up another precious pre-Christmas night!

Moving with a newfound sense of purpose, Felicity rolled out some more paper and set the next box on top of it, wrapping it with more confidence and skill than its predecessors. Several minutes later, she added it to the pile of wrapped packages and swiftly moved on, pausing only to unmute the movie that had been distracting before but was now just pleasant background noise. A second box was added to the pile beside her, then a third and fourth as she continued to pick up steam. Before she knew it, she was in a rhythm that ended only when her outstretched hand found air instead of a box. Looking up, Felicity stared at disbelief at the empty space in front of her before turning wide-eyed to look at the pile beside her and then glancing at the clock, doing a double-take when she saw that it had only been 45 minutes since she had been convinced that she would never get the wrapping done.

 _Wow,_ she thought, taking a moment to process everything before slowly pushing herself up off the floor, taking the time to stretch and test each joint as they teamed up with her muscles to complain at how long she’d been sitting on the floor. Bending over, Felicity gathered a few packages and moved them under the tree. Taking a few trips to get them all there safely (fragile items remained unbroken for no careless or clumsy soul) she organized them on the festive Christmukkah tree skirt, taking care to leave a few of the embroidered menorahs and candy canes visible between the veritable mountains of gifts. Stepping back, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the tree in all its glory with its lights on, ornaments twinkling, and presents accounted for, attaching it to a group message.

“Presents wrapped – don’t forget to bring yours Christmas Eve!”

Felicity hit send with a deep sense of satisfaction, getting an almost immediate response from Oliver and rolling her eyes even as her mouth curled up in a grin at his snark (“Done here too! Can’t wait to see what you got the man who has everything…”) before responding with her own dig (“You have one part right: wait! As for the other, don’t you mean “had” everything?”). Getting no immediate reply to that, Felicity punched the air victoriously and then grabbed her phone again as a message from Lyla came through: “How did you do that?! O queen of computers and wrapping paper, share your ways with me – asap!” A second later an image popped up, displaying what appeared to be Diggle’s dining room table covered in scraps of paper and several unwrapped boxes, the biggest of which was bursting at the seams and about to come undone altogether. Felicity chuckled at the chaos of the scene as she told Lyla, “I have no idea what I did, it just kinda happened! Maybe some divine intervention would help?” The answer came quickly, Felicity stifling her giggles into outright laughter as she imagined Lyla’s exasperated voice reading the words on her screen.

“There’s not enough prayer in the world to get this mess straightened out. I’m calling in the big guns!”

Her phone buzzing again, Felicity burst into laughter at the new picture of Diggle at the table, wrapping with one hand and cradling Sara in the other as he cooed at his baby with the goofiest expression ever on his face. It was the funniest – and sweetest – thing she’d seen in months, prompting her to download the picture as she shut off all the lights for the night. She couldn’t wait to see how he did, mentally counting down the days until Christmas Eve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry, I really am trying to get these written! Check back Christmas Day; they should aaaall be up by that evening. Hopefully.


	16. December 16th: Computers and Candles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why do gift exchanges always seem to be planned at the last minute?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you remember that Felicity is Jewish? I've been throwing as many little references in as I can, but this is the first chapter that delves into it more - it happens towards the end. Here's your disclaimer: I am not Jewish and don't know anyone who is. I've done a couple hours of research to try and make sure I get it right and don't screw anything up, but if I did please remember that I mean no disrespect or offense by it. And then use that comment box there and let me know what I did wrong so I can fix it!

“Thankyousomuch, keepthechange!”

Throwing the fare into the front seat, Felicity practically flew out of the cab and onto the sidewalk, slamming the door behind her as she sprinted for the doors of the mall. It closed in half an hour, and she _had_ to get this gift today.

_How on earth did I forget that the company Secret Santa is tomorrow??_ she screamed inside her head, ignoring the fact that she already knew the answer. The combination of work and kicking digital ass from the Arrow Cave didn’t leave her with much free time or energy normally, and now she was using most of what she had left of both of those to do fun, _normal_ couple things with Oliver, leaving her exhausted and apparently slightly forgetful – which now had her running through a mall like a mad woman, ducking in and out of stores as she searched for the perfect gift. Or really, any old thing that would get the job done, she didn’t care at this point so long as it was taken care of!

This had been a last-minute thing from the start, she thought in irritation. It had begun just two days ago, Ray pressing a small piece of paper into her hand as she raced out of the office to save the Arrow and Arsenal yet again with her technical mastery. He’d said something to her at the time, but it had slipped in one ear and out the other as she mumbled something in response through the closing elevator doors. She’d made it to the cave in time to save her heroes, of course, but that slip of paper? It had gone forgotten until today, when she’d dumped her purse out on the table looking for her glasses and had found the now-crumpled paper scrap instead.

Looking down again at the paper tightly clenched in her hand, Felicity regarded the name with just a hint of despair. What would Randal Otis from IT want? She assumed Ray had given her someone from IT so she had a better chance of finding something, but she barely knew the guy on a professional basis. She had no idea what he actually liked!

Still, she needed to buy something and she needed to buy it now. The mall’s intercom was already warning customers of its imminent closing. Silently cursing, Felicity ducked into the closest store that looked like it might hold some possibilities. Dashing through the aisles, she looked left and right and up and down and finally, finally spotted something: an ornament shaped like a computer, made out of recycled computer parts. Good enough. She grabbed it and ran, completing the purchase and making it out of the store just as the last employees were locking the doors.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Felicity hailed a cab. Slumping down in the backseat as it took her home, Felicity closed her eyes and didn’t open them again until the taxi pulled to a stop outside her building. Making her way upstairs and into her apartment, Felicity collapsed onto the sofa and considered wrapping the present in the morning as she caught glimpses of the rapidly setting sun out the window –

_Setting sun?_

Felicity sat bolt upright. The sun was setting. What was today’s date again? The 16th. _Oh shit._

Today was the first day of Hanukkah.

Felicity heaved herself up and raced to retrieve the menorah and candles as the sun began to disappear below the horizon. It was supposed to be lit at sunset, if possible; she didn’t intend to let that slip on the very first day.

Piling everything on the floor, Felicity got the little table set up and the menorah placed perfectly on it in the nick of time, lighting the first candle just after dark. Meditating there for the customary half hour, she recited all the proper blessings and sang the hymns, finally feeling peace settle over her as she sang the last one and her favorite, the Hanerot Halalu.

_“These Chanukah lights we kindle_  
In honor of the miracles, the wonders  
And salvation wrought and wars  
You fought, for our fathers,  
In days of yore and in present time  
In days of yore and in present time  
By the hands of Your holy priests. 

_And throughout Chanukah's eight days_  
These lights, these lights shall be sacred:  
No right to make use of them have we  
Only to look at them and see,  
That Your great Name we may thank and praise  
For the miracles and salvation You brought  
And for Your wondrous deeds.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song I quoted from can be found here: http://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=hanerothalalu


	17. December 17th: Openings

The door opened, allowing the first light in hours to touch what lay behind it. A hand reached through the door, roughly gathering what it needed and pulling it out before slamming the door on the now-empty space.

As she walked up the stairs to her apartment, Felicity thumbed through the mail. Sorting it into the normal categories of bills, trash, and neither of those, she noted with pleasure that there were several Christmas and Hanukkah cards nestled in between the advertisements and magazines. Opening her apartment door and slipping inside, Felicity threw away the trash letters before setting the rest on the table and making herself a mug of peppermint hot chocolate. Picking up the holiday cards, she moved to the couch and set the mug on the end table after taking a sip nearly hot enough to burn her tongue. Retrieving the letter opener in its place, she settled further into the couch with a sigh and opened all the envelopes so she could replace the letter opener on the table before she dropped it on her foot again – once had been enough for her!

Pulling the first card out of its envelope, Felicity smiled at the image on the front – two penguins standing under a clump of mistletoe, tenderly resting their heads on the chick at their feet. Opening it, she saw Diggle and Lyla’s signatures below a tiny little footprint labeled “Sara”. Inhaling sharply, Felicity’s hand flew to her mouth as her eyes pricked with happy tears. It was so cute! Pulling out her phone, she sent an all-caps message full of hearts and “happy crying” emojis to the new parents before setting the card aside with one last adoring glance.

Picking up the next envelope, she opened it to a card front she never expected to see: an archer shooting the star into the sky above the stable, the little family just visible through the shelter’s open doors. Her mouth falling open for a second at the blatant reference, Felicity shut it with a snap as she looked inside to see Roy’s signature and a note, written specifically for her:

“You can stop worrying, Felicity, I only sent these cards to members of Team Arrow. Didn’t even have to special order them, they were just sitting on a shelf at the store. Wish I’d thought of it… Happy holidays!”

Despite tipping her head back in annoyance, Felicity couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the archer’s sense of humor. And it was a pretty cool card, she had to admit. Very nice art.

Moving on, she opened cards from Thea, her mother, and a few other friends and distant relatives. Finally reaching the bottom of the stack, Felicity found that the last envelope was from Oliver and stared at it with butterflies in her stomach. Knowing him it would be something very sweet and super appropriate, but for some reason Felicity couldn’t bring herself to open it just yet. Did she have any reasons to delay it a bit? Glancing out the window, Felicity realized she did: the sun was about to set, meaning it was time to light the second candle on the menorah. Gently placing the card on the table beside her, Felicity got up and got ready for the Hanukkah rituals. It would be there when she was done, a perfect ending to her evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really trying to get these done but have very little free time because CHRISTMAS so they may be shorter from here on out... I'll do my best to keep them at about the same quality they've been despite that.


	18. December 18th: Elf

“Right this way, young lady!” Felicity said in a forced cheerful tone as she led the tiny girl over to Santa. “Now be good for Santa!” Picking up the child and placing her on the jolly fellow’s lap, Felicity turned around swiftly to guard the gate against unwelcome passage – three kids had already made (unsuccessful) breaks for Santa and she was not going to let her record be tarnished by a snot-nosed brat.

Usually Felicity liked kids; their creativity was unbound by age, their minds fresh and innocent and untainted by the harshness the world sometimes dealt. But these kids were different. The little tiny ones were still alright, it was true, but the ones big enough to know what they wanted for Christmas? They were little nightmares. Energy galore, sneezes and boogers to match, they barely sat still long enough to tell Santa what they wanted before they were zooming off again, half of them yelling that Santa hadn’t gotten them what they wanted or that they were too old for Santa or – worst of all – that Santa didn’t exist. Felicity disliked those kids with a passion usually reserved for human rights issues or people who tried to kill Oliver.

And now she was standing smack in the middle of them, wearing green leggings with an ill-fitting red-and-white top and pointy red shoes with bells on the toes and wrists and hems and every other place they would fit on the Elf costume. Even the hat had bells, ensuring that Felicity jingled every time she so much as lifted a finger or moved her head even a fraction of an inch. Even the process of thinking this made her move her head enough for a bell to jingle, prompting her to glare at Ray (behind the fake beard and Santa suit) for convincing her to be an elf at the Christmas party. He’d written a script and everything!

Still, she had to admit that there were some good points. It was really rewarding to see the joy on the little kids’ faces as they whispered what they wanted in Santa’s ear, especially when he then shook them with his laughter and pulled out the exact gift they had asked for (thanks to the parents who sent in their children’s requests a week ahead of time). Even the grumpy kids tended to walk away looking decently happy, their gifts tightly clutched in their arms.

“Down you go. You keep being good for Santa, and he’ll bring you something next year too!”

Watching the cute little kid go, Felicity smiled and wished the girl’s parents a good day as they chased after their extremely cheerful daughter. Yeah, she didn’t mind doing this after all, Felicity thought. Maybe next year if Ray asked her to do it again she’d say yes a little faster.


	19. December 19th: Are you sure?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity needs the days running up to Christmas to get ready for the party, but she's missed so much work recently - can she really expect to get the extra days off?

Felicity waited in the elevator, anxiously shifting from foot to foot. Was it just her, or was the ride taking longer than normal? When it finally came to a halt, she took a deep breath and clasped her hands together in front of her to keep them from nervously messing with her dress or her hair before stepping out and into Ray’s office. She couldn’t avoid this any longer, she had to do it now or it would never happen.

Usually asking for a couple days off would be easy, especially with Hanukkah and Christmas right around the corner, but Felicity had run out from work a lot recently (damn those vigilantes and their constant need of her skills). She’d made up the missed hours from home, of course, but she still wasn’t sure how Ray would react to her request for even more time off. But she was approaching his desk now, so she’d find out soon.

Knocking on the door, Felicity stepped through it when Ray waved her in, not bothering to look up from the papers on his desk. She waited for a moment, but when he didn’t say anything she decided she had to go ahead.

“I need next week off.”

Instantly wincing at how harsh it had sounded, Felicity backpedaled.

“I mean, with Hanukkah ending on Christmas Eve and Christmas the next day and preparations to make for the party which, by the way, I would totally invite you to but it’s also kinda a memorial for a friend who died recently and you didn’t know her so it would be a little awkward and -”

“It’s fine, Felicity, take as much time as you need,” Ray said, cutting her off and stunning her into silence. She stared at him in surprise, trying to figure out if he was being serious. Seeming to sense her confusion, he looked up at her for the first time since she had entered his office.

“Felicity, you’ve done more than enough to justify some time off. Everything around here runs smoothly thanks to you; I barely have to glance at IT or Administration anymore. And Palmer Tech employees are off Wednesday and Thursday anyways, it’s no problem if you want to take the rest of the week off too.”

His answer taking her by surprise, Felicity couldn’t decide if she should agree and walk out or argue with him. (Arguing didn’t make much sense, given that she was getting what she had asked for, but now that it was a real possibility Felicity couldn’t help but feel guilty.) Seeing the struggle on her face, Ray shook his head with a smile and waved her away.

“Go! Have some fun, recharge your batteries, spend time with your family and friends. It’s the holidays; act like it. The company will be here when you get back, I promise.”

Nodding in thanks, Felicity turned around and rushed out before he – or she – could change her mind. “Happy Holidays!” she called over her shoulder as she stepped onto the elevator, receiving a distracted reply as the doors closed behind her and started her winter vacation week.


	20. December 20th: First Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's just the first snow of the season. So why is Felicity so excited about it?

“Bye, guys!” Felicity called to Diggle and Roy as she and Oliver left the Arrow Cave. It had been a slower and shorter night than usual; temperatures had dropped over the course of the day and Felicity figured that the cold was keeping everyone inside. There had only been a few miscreants out and about, nothing more serious than a couple break-ins and some vandalism. It had been a walk in the park for the Arrow to take them down and hand them over to the SCPD.

Walking into the alley through the door Oliver was holding open for her, Felicity gasped quietly as the cold hit her – and then froze in her tracks as she realized what was falling from the sky.

“Snow!” she exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm, looking up and trying to catch a few snowflakes on her tongue. She failed miserably, but that didn’t matter to her so much as the fact that she could actually try it now. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a small smile pulling up one corner of Oliver’s mouth as he watched her antics. Laughing up into the sky as the flakes settled on her face, she grabbed his hand in hers and pulled him out onto the street.

“Whoa! What are you doing?” the startled hero asked.

“Not me, _we_ ,” Felicity corrected. “ _We_ are going to walk in the snow for a little while.”

Oliver glanced at her in concern. “Won’t you be cold?”

“Not for a little bit. My coat is warm.” She snuggled into it more to show him, still moving forward and looking around in wonder as the snow began to coat the ground.

“Walking in the first snow of the year is kinda a tradition for me, something I started right after I came to Starling,” she explained. “I was still feeling a bit unsettled and unsure of who I was – the whole mess with Cooper had just happened. One day I was wandering aimlessly, trying to figure out the city and myself, and it started to snow, the first snow of the season and the first snow I’d ever seen. It was such a strange experience for me. I just kept walking and watched the snowflakes fall on the city and, well, it helped. I felt a little bit of peace for the first time in a long time. Ever since then, walking in the first snow has been special for me, and something that I never miss.”

Oliver didn’t respond verbally, but squeezed Felicity’s hand to tell her he understood. Grateful, Felicity leaned against him and the two kept walking, taking in as much of the night as they could as the snow drifted steadily down.


	21. December 21st: A Battle to End All Battles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revenge really is a dish best served cold.

A snowball hit Oliver, spraying Felicity’s face with little flecks of ice and water. She jerked away in shock, wiping off her face while Oliver scraped the snow off his front.

“Cold cold coldcoldcold! And wet! Are you kidding me?!” Felicity exclaimed as Oliver crouched defensively. The pair looked around for the source of the snowball, Oliver’s head on a swivel. It wasn’t too hard to find; stifled laughter drew their attention to a flash of red and a little bit of brown sticking out from behind one of the park’s benches. Oliver and Felicity looked at each other, Felicity recognizing the gleam in his eyes as a sign that he was amused. Well, she was glad he had gotten over the initial attack so quickly, but Felicity was still irritated. Conveying her mood perfectly with the look she gave him, she was satisfied to see him nod and scoop up some snow, the slightly more serious look on his face telling her that he was coming up with a plan.

“Make some noise; throw a few snowballs at them,” Oliver whispered as he began to creep forward, storing snowballs on the shelf his left arm made against his body. She nodded and started yelling at the troublemakers, throwing snowballs with as much accuracy and force as she could muster (and trying not to be disappointed when none of them even made it to the bench). Roy and Diggle returned fire, keeping their heads down until they realized Felicity wasn’t really a threat to them. They then just let loose, bombarding the blonde hacker with lumps of snow as she shrieked and took cover behind a tree. From there she whipped out her phone and started coding angrily, telling the two exactly what she was going to do to their phones (it wasn’t pretty) while quickly poking her head out to see how close Oliver was.

In between typing and flinching each time a snowball hit the tree (thank goodness it was a big one) Felicity saw that the archer was now army crawling around the bench, disguised with a covering of snow as he positioned himself behind Roy and Diggle. Mustering herself for one final distraction as he set himself up, Felicity shouted a few more times with even more intensity while making as many snowballs as she could carry, finally coming out from her shelter when she was sure Oliver was ready. Running towards the bench and dodging as many snowballs as she could, Felicity waited until she was close enough to hit them and then started throwing. Just then, Oliver let out a blood-curdling yell and attacked. Surprised, Roy and Diggle spun around just in time to take snowballs to their faces, courtesy of Oliver’s expert aim. Felicity took the opportunity to gather an armful of snow and dump it on the two, laughing wickedly as they shouted and gave up any hope of defense as they tried to dig the snow out of the backs of their shirts.

Revenge really was a dish best served cold.

Sauntering around the bench, Felicity crossed her arms and regarded the two with both vengeful mirth and an air of victory. “See what happens when you mess with the finest team Starling City has ever seen?”

“Oh, is that what you are?” Roy gasped, a bit of fight left in him. “I thought you were all kissy kissy now.”

The snark got him a snowball to the face, Oliver shaking the snow off his hand with a smirk and wrapping his other arm around Felicity. “We are, as you put it so eloquently, ‘kissy kissy’, but that just makes us an even better team. Unfortunately for you, I might add.” Roy grumbled but said no more, preferring to rid himself of the cold wet stuff down his coat. Deciding the two weren’t a threat anymore, Oliver turned to Felicity and grabbed her hands.

“You’ve always been my partner, Felicity, now just in more ways than one.” His smile melted her even through the cold and snow, she noted with interest. When he leaned into her for a kiss, she met him halfway, both of them ignoring the protests coming from their two unwilling spectators. Eventually breaking away, Oliver gazed into Felicity’s eyes for a moment more before turning to Roy and Diggle with feigned concern.

“You guys must be freezing. Coffee and burgers sound good?”

Diggle grunted. “Who’s buying?”

“The losers, naturally,” Oliver said with a smile.

“ _Naturally,_ ” Roy grumbled as he brushed the last of the snow off his pants. “Yeah sure, I am actually pretty chilly after _someone_ dumped a bunch of _snow_ down my shirt.”

Felicity shrugged. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.” Wheeling on her heel, she linked her arm with Oliver’s and started for the Big Belly Burger.

“You two coming?” Oliver called over his shoulder with mirth. Groaning but coming along anyways, Roy and Diggle caught up to them and the quartet went on its way, soon chatting and laughing as if the snowball fight had never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I solemnly swear I will finish this fic. Eventually. ASAP. Promise!


End file.
